...and then I found Second Life.
I had barely switched from an MX400 card to MX4000, and that because nobody sold the older card any more. All I cared about was that the cute 3D screensavers ran decently: the toasters flew and the cattle bounced, and the pretty colored clouds floated and rotated. I wasn't a gamer.
(Proof SL isn't a game: I like it, and I'm not a gamer, so SL can't be a game, right?)
I wished I had a faster CPU when I used Gentoo Linux and recompiled KDE... but I switched to Ubuntu Linux, and Gentoo doesn't force you to compile everything if you don't want to anyway.
Then i got hooked on Second Life, which sucks down all the CPU cycles, RAM, and graphics hardware available, and then grumbles at you for not having more.
I upgraded to a 5500, then to the 7300 I currently run; I added RAM. Still not enough.
My upgrade plans are still just plans... I'm still limping along with Socket A and AGP. Even when I go through with them I won't be on the bleeding edge: I can't justify a four-core CPU (yet...) or spending the better part of a thousand dollars on two power-hungry SLI graphics cards. But the time is approaching, and darn it, Linden Lab, it's all your fault!
(OK, not entirely... even though Compiz makes the obscene resource hog Aero look pathetic while using vastly less resources, it still works better with better graphics.)
UPDATE: I didn't realize just how insane graphics card prices have gotten. Ignoring the $2300 cards better suited to render farms than gamers, you can spend $3000 for two SLI cards to give that ultimate (for now...) gaming experience.
3 comments:
That's the curse of the computer you see. The constant need to upgrade. :O
Also the blessing. If you can get away with staying consistently the right distance behind the cutting edge, you can still get the exponential rate of improvement while letting the gamers with more money than sense pay the development costs and be the beta testers. :)
Interesting... :) I hadn't thought of it quite like that. That sounds like a very well thought out game plan.
I've tended to upgrade only when my pc becomes obsolete or dies which tends to be somewhere round 3 to 5 years.
Going by processor I started with 120Mhz in about '96 then 500Mhz in about '00 then 2.66Ghz in about '05 and finally 3Ghz dual core about 3 months ago.
Although technically I did upgrade my graphics card on my previous one for the purposes of being able to play "NeverWinter Nights 2" but that was an exception pretty much.
I'd say your method keeps you alot more up to date than mine does and is probably a better idea over all.
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